Is it really that important to make time for The Word? We sure think so! And here's a simple plan to get you on the path to faithfulness!

Scripture mentioned:

2 Timothy 3: 1-6

Psalm 84

Hebrews 12:1-2

Resources referenced:

Find out more about Get the Word Out and Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

Listen to the AGAIN Podcast.

Find our Dwelling Place Printable Resources Here.

Necklace

Atomic Habits

Welcome back to The Dwelling

Place Bible Plan for Busy Moms

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from Entrusted Ministries.

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This is prepared to dwell episode three.

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And I'm Stephanie Cock.

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I have two purposes for this episode.

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First, I wanna talk about why do we

need to be so intentional in looking

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to the word of God for our parenting?

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And secondly, let's get really

practical about how we can actually

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fit this into busy mom life.

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We set our kids up for

success all the time.

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We think about how after the doctor

appointment they're gonna be hungry and

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then we pack them a snack and a water.

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But I don't think we really

do this for ourselves enough.

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Let's be intentional and honest

today about what will make us

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consistent in reading scripture.

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The last thing I want you to feel as

overwhelmed as you listen to this,

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but I also don't wanna neglect to

encourage you about the importance

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of being in the word of God.

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Moms are key disciplers in a home,

and if we don't have a biblical

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worldview ourselves, it's really

difficult to pass it on to our kids.

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I am gonna read a passage of

scripture with you that every

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time I read it, it stops me in

my tracks and is a heart check.

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I know it wasn't originally written about

social media, but it certainly seems

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to apply to what moms are facing today.

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It comes from second

Timothy chapter three.

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paul was in prison and he knew he'd

be dying shortly, but these are some

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of his final words he writes, but

understand this, that in the last days

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there will come times of difficulty

for people will be lovers of self,

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lovers of money, proud, arrogant.

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Abusive, disobedient to their parents.

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Ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unpassable,

slanderous without self-control.

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Brutal, not loving, good, treacherous,

reckless, swollen, with conceit, lovers

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of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

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Having the appearance of godliness but

denying its power avoid such people.

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For, among them are those who

creep into households and capture

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weak women, burdened with sins and

led astray by various passions,

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always learning and never able to

arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

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As I said, I think this scripture

is so convicting for us today.

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I don't wanna be a weak woman who

is allowing people to come into my

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household or into my thought life and

take me captive by false doctrine.

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I don't wanna be always learning

and never able to arrive at the

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knowledge of the truth, and I don't

wanna be promised solution after

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solution by algorithms without finding

peace from the God that created me.

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I don't think we've ever had

more solutions at our fingertips.

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And I also don't think moms

have ever felt more overwhelmed.

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we need to thumb through the pages of

scripture rather than having our thumbs

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scroll through content that's preventing

us from dwelling and abiding with Christ

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is a really scary list in this chapter.

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And I am just praying for you.

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I'm praying for myself that the Lord

will help us to put off the things that

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aren't life giving and to help us to

put on the peace and the joy and the

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clarity that can only come from the Bible.

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Like I said, the last thing I

want you to feel is overwhelmed.

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But I do believe that we're

all desperately needing to

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turn our eyes towards Christ.

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If I can encourage you to replace

some scrolling time with reading

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the word of God, then so be it.

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Okay, that's my soapbox for today.

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Now, let's talk about our

dwelling place logistics.

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I wanna bring up.

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The book Atomic Habits again,

because I think it's key in helping

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us recognize what our habits are

and what will make us faithful.

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One of the most helpful tips

I learned in that book was to

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create a when and where statement.

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These are really pivotal in helping

us accomplish goals and be consistent

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in habit formation, and that's

what I wanna help you do today.

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Not just to check something off a list,

but to have our hearts be transformed.

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If you click on the show notes, there's a

link for our Entrusted Ministries website.

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On our podcast page, you'll

fill out the section to receive

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our free printable forms.

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When you fill it out, you're

gonna get an email from me with my

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favorite Bible reading resources, and

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there's even progress trackers.

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I am trying to do everything to

encourage you to stay the course in

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whatever I think might be motivating.

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There are a couple pages to

create a when and where statement,

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because you are 43% more likely

to follow through with something

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if you just write it down.

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I want you to think about your life and

when you can be most consistent this

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might sound silly, but every year I

put the Christmas tree in our living

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room and to make room for it, I have

to take my cozy chair out of the

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corner and move it to another room.

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Last year, at the end of the Christmas

season, I realized, oh my goodness,

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I wasn't as faithful in the word this

month, and part of it was probably the

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busyness of the Christmas season, and

we were doing extra advent activities.

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But part of the reason I fell

off the rails was also because my

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chair moved, and that's where I

read my Bible every day this year.

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When I moved that chair, I thought,

okay, Stephanie, what's your plan?

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Where are you going to be reading?

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It may sound ridiculous, but just

having that moment of intentionality

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helped me be more faithful, and

I noticed this all the time.

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If I wanna be consistent in using my

leave-in conditioner for some reason,

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I just need it out on the counter.

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Some things I have really set into

my day, but sometimes I need a visual

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cue, and I'm just trying to encourage

you to think about yourself and

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what's worked for you in the past.

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write down on that document when and

where you're gonna commit to read

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or to listen to the word of God.

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Another tip from Atomic Habits

is the idea of habit stacking.

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Think about something you're

already really faithful in, and

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then add this new habit to it.

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Let me give you an example.

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I'm one of those people that

loves to let the sunshine in.

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I like opening my drapes as early

as possible in the morning, and my

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husband will tell you if he tries

to close 'em too early at night,

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I have a really hard time biting

my tongue and I'm probably gonna

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ask him to open them back up.

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When I come down the stairs

in the morning, I open all

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of the curtains in our home.

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It's the first thing I do.

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And I realized a while ago that

this was the perfect time to

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be praying over my neighbors.

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I look out each window on each side of our

home and I pray, and this has helped me

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be really consistent because I've attached

it to something I'm already doing, and

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that's what I'm thinking about for you.

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In terms of listening to the Dwelling

Play series, what is something you

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already do like getting dressed,

hopefully brushing your teeth.

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Or maybe it's right after you're

dropping the kids off from school I have

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intentionally selected the music so that

it's not gonna make you feel like, whoa,

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girl, I needed three cups of coffee

before I could handle you at that level.

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I wanted it to be soothing, but

still not make you feel like

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you're on a hobby Lobby elevator.

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Even though I love Hobby Lobby,

perhaps you're one of those people

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that's saying don't you dare mention

Hebrew or Greek to me before.

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It's a couple hours into my

day, and then you can pick the

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moment that's gonna work for you.

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Or if you're a working mom and

your commute is your only moment

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of peace I'm a working mom

too, and I know how busy it is.

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I hope that's the beauty of

podcasting, that there's a way

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that we can make this work for you.

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when you're making your

when and where statement.

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I do wanna caution you against using this

moment to absolutely redesign your life

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connect these to habits you already have.

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Don't say something like, I'm

going to listen to the Dwelling

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Place series while I'm flossing

and doing Pilates and oil pulling.

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If those are three things that

you haven't been doing for a long

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time, and if that's a struggle for

you to not do, you are my people.

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And that's why I know to warn you about

this next, there's that accountability

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element we talked about in the last

episode with Psalm 84, that biblical

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motherhood often happens in community.

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Consider asking a friend to commit

with you and then set some reminders

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in your calendar for when you're

gonna check in with each other there

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if you're staying on track

is a reward in order.

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I know that's always motivating for me.

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Remember, this isn't about perfection,

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but about being renewed day

by day by the word of God.

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I want you to picture that finish

line that you can run the race with

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endurance just as Hebrews tells us too.

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And when I first found that passage

in Psalm 84 that talked about that

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little sparrow laying her nest at

the altar, I wanted something to be

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a physical reminder to me about my

reliance upon the Lord, I went on

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Etsy and I found this delicate little

necklace that has a little bird on it.

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I'm gonna link that in the show notes

if you think that it would be helpful

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to put that on every day and have it

be a reminder to look to God's word.

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And for those moms who are listening

and thinking, you know what, actually,

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this is kind of crazy, but I think I'm

gonna have a little bit more time to

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be in the word than I have in the past.

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Then I would highly

recommend get the word out.

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It is an amazing resource that has

all these different tools to help you

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develop your own devotional lifestyle.

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My favorite review about it is my friend

Joanna said, get the word out, teaches

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you to have the aha moments for yourself.

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And once you learn to do that, you'll

never want anyone to make them for you.

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If you have capacity, I

encourage you to look into that.

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As I mentioned with the second Timothy

passage, I don't think that this is

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just about putting on, it's about

putting off some things if after praying

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through this, you just don't have a

clear when and where, but you're gonna

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say, Lord, before I go on social media,

I'm gonna read a chapter of your word

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and perhaps that's how you get through

the entire Bible this year by just

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choosing to put God first in that.

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Or put your Bible app on your first

page of your phone and tuck any tempting

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apps way in a folder on the third page.

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I'm not sure what this needs to look like

for you, but I do want you to ask the

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Lord how you can make him a priority.

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I have to admit, when I was mapping out

this reading plan, there were moments

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where I was like, yes, we can do this.

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And then there were moments

where I thought, what am I

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asking these busy moms to do?

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This is so overwhelming.

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But I still have the burden that

it's so important that as we're

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training our kids and trying to

teach them to walk in the truth, that

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we need to know it for ourselves.

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this is a culture that's so focused

on what we do, and I just want

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you to learn to dwell with a God

that delights in who you are.

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I know we're not gonna fit it in

unless we say no to some of those

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things that aren't as life giving,

but please just know I am not trying

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to minimize everything on your plate.

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I'm just trying to coach

you into a better Yes.

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I also wanna take this opportunity

to tell you that what we're most

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known for is our biblical parenting

study Entrusted with a child's art.

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And this is a nine month long study

that is most often done in churches,

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but can also be done in home groups.

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Our website is linked in the show notes.

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If you wanna look more into it, if you're

thinking, this is great to go through

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the Bible on my own for parenting, but

I would really love something systematic

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to dig into so I can get closer to the

moms at my church, then that's for you.

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And lastly.

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Did you know that we have another podcast?

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It's a weekly podcast with a little bit

longer interviews, and I have some great

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conversations coming on how to parent

A DHD in a biblical way, I am also

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sitting down with Dan Trippy, who is

president and co-founder of the Center

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for Christian Thought and Ethics, and he's

gonna tell us how to talk to our kids and

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engage with the culture regarding some

of the most controversial issues today.

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In all that we do.

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We are rooting for you and again, I wanna

say that we know we need Jesus every day

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and we're thankful that we

get to look to him together.